Wal-Mart Ads Tout 'American Success Story'

By SHELLY BANJO

Facing criticism over bribery allegations, worker protests and conditions at the foreign factories that make its goods, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is aiming to burnish its image with a feel-good advertising campaign that depicts the retail giant as an "American success story."
Airing for the first time on Saturday during the Kentucky Derby, the ads—reminiscent of those purchased by political candidates—come at a time when some branding experts say Wal-Mart's reputation among more educated consumers is declining, even though its sales remain steady.
Titled "The Real Walmart," the multimillion-dollar campaign is an attempt to correct the misperceptions of people who "don't know the whole story" about the Bentonville, Ark., chain, Bill Simon, the head of its U.S. division, said in an interview.
"We want to talk directly to the public and tell them the whole story, not just what they read about," Mr. Simon said.
The campaign, the company's first purely image-based ad push in several years, features national television spots and a website in which customers, store employees and truckers share their warm feelings for the discount retailer. It targets what Wal-Mart calls an "opinion leader audience," such as viewers of Sunday morning news shows, and will air through the summer.
Ads highlight job opportunities at Wal-Mart, as well as the company's efforts to sell more fresh food. They feature footage of the company's massive distribution centers and 53-foot rigs to tell the story of how Wal-Mart gets goods to customers at low prices.
Several big companies have taken to the airwaves to seek redemption in recent years, including BP PLC, which aired apologetic ads following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico, and Toyota Motor Corp., which ran commercials after a recall of eight million vehicles over faulty gas pedals.
J.C. Penney Co. did a mea culpa this week with an ad admitting the retailer had made mistakes and pleading with customers to "Come back."
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer with $469 billion in revenue last fiscal year, is no stranger to criticism. But the company has faced a barrage of unfavorable publicity in recent months, including the fallout from allegations that it bribed officials in Mexico in order to smooth the way for store expansion, and criticism about its global sourcing practices after its clothing was found in a Bangladesh factory where more than 100 workers died in a fire last year.
Wal-Mart says it is cooperating with federal investigators probing the bribery allegations. As for the Bangladesh factory where the fire occurred, the company said its clothing was still being made there by a subcontractor without its authorization after inspectors hired by the company found the facility substandard.
The retailer has labored in recent years to polish its image, hiring Leslie Dach, a former Democratic campaign adviser, to lead its efforts. Mr. Dach, who is leaving the company later this year, spearheaded dozens of promises to eliminate landfill waste, sell healthier food and boost the company's use of renewable energy.
But while customers have continued shopping at Wal-Mart, it experienced a drastic drop in brand perception among college-educated adults last year, according to BAV Consulting, a brand consulting firm owned by WPP PLC that measures the reputations of 3,500 brands.
Wal-Mart's "energized differentiation," an advertising term for the direction a brand is going based on consumer interest, loyalty and momentum, dropped 50% between 2011 and 2012 among college-educated adults, it said.
"A drop like this is a leading indicator of problems to come in the future, said Anne Rivers, BAV's global director of brand strategy. "We saw AOL dropping in 2002 until eventually they weren't differentiated enough to even care about."
Some of Wal-Mart's workers, who have been protesting wages, benefits and workplace conditions through a group called Organization United for Respect at Walmart, which has ties to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, were critical of the coming ad offensive.
"It turns my stomach," said Barbara Andridge, 38 years old, who has been working at a Placerville, Calif., Wal-Mart for nearly eight years and makes $12.15 an hour. She said she had to drop its health plan this year because she couldn't afford the $18 weekly cost.
"I don't want to see ads," she said. "I want to see Wal-Mart provide decent wages, affordable health care and enough hours to feed my children."